Improvements in water intervention projects through product design methods

At a 2018 community discussion workshop for the EU Horizon 2020 funded WATERSPOUTT project in Chikwawa, Malawi, village representatives discussed water collection from the Shire river. WATERSPOUTT aims to provide safe drinking water to sub-Saharan African communities who rely on unsafe sources. A consortium of EU and African researchers is carrying out a technological development programme to advance applications based on Solar Disinfection (SoDis), providing clean potable water. The water in Chikwawa is polluted by sewage from upstream, bodies that have fallen in due to accidents and dirt and bacteria stirred up by rain, increasing the incidence of illness. Where products have been successful in previous projects, the user is limited to a specific process and when their situations change the technologies are no longer suitable. The constraints of these projects raise issues vital for consideration by design students such as localised production, sustainability, co-design and cultural appropriation. Design is a tool for producing products to solve a user’s daily problems with the potential to develop long lasting solutions for those not in a position to create them for themselves. This paper reviews past interventions where design methods have been implemented, their effects, and primary research from this project. Discussing the importance of user engagement and the involvement of cultural factors in the advancement of new product development, the paper provides new considerations in user centred design for students and educators while discussing how design methods could be used to improve long term sustainability of intervention product design.